Iuliia Batenkova-Bauman (also spelled Yuliia, Yuliya, Yulia, or Julia; born 20 September 1983) is a Ukrainian

Nordic skier Nordic skiing encompasses the various types of skiing in which the toe of the ski boot is fixed to the binding in a manner that allows the heel to rise off the ski, unlike alpine skiing, where the boot is attached to the ski from toe to heel. Rec ...

who competes in

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing whereby skiers traverse snow-covered terrain without use of ski lifts or other assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreational activity; however, some still use it as a m ...

and

biathlon The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not ti ...

. She has competed in three successive

Winter Paralympics The Winter Paralympic Games is an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete in snow and ice sports. The event includes athletes with mobility impairments, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy. The ...

, where she has won 13 silver and bronze medals.

Career

Batenkova was born on 20 September 1983, in

Simferopol Simferopol ( ), also known as Aqmescit, is the second-largest city on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, but controlled by Russia. It is considered the cap ...

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

. As a child, she took part in

artistic gymnastics Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique, Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), ...

. At the age of 8, she was in a road traffic accident where her mother and brother died, and Batenkova lost her right hand. Because of the injury, she gave up gymnastics. Together with her father, she moved to

Kovel Kovel (, ; ; ) is a city in Volyn Oblast, northwestern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Kovel Raion within the oblast. Population: Kovel gives its name to one of the oldest runic inscriptions which were lost during World War I ...

, where he remarried. Batenkova graduated from school with a qualification in accounting, and during her studies she was introduced to the Foundation for Supporting Sports for the Handicapped. She took part in

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

events at first, but seeking to go to the

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disability, disabilities. There are Winter Paralympic Games, Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 ...

, she switched to winter sports due to heavy competition for spots in the summer events. She studied at the Open International University of Human Development "Ukraine". Batenkova has competed at three successive

, first at Turin 2006, and also in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. She has won medals at each games in both

Cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing whereby skiers traverse snow-covered terrain without use of ski lifts or other assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreational activity; however, some still use it as a m ...

and

. Following the Turin Games, Batenkova was given an apartment in

Lutsk Lutsk (, ; see #Names and etymology, below for other names) is a city on the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Volyn Oblast and the administrative center of Lutsk Raion within the oblast. Lutsk has a populati ...

by the Ukrainian Government, and has been given other financial awards for winning her medals at the three Winter Paralympics she has attended. During the

2014 Winter Paralympics closing ceremony The closing ceremony of the 2014 Winter Paralympics was held on 16 March 2014 at 20:14 MSK (UTC+4) at the Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi, Russia. Ceremony Awards During the Closing Ceremony, Toby Kane, a male alpine skier from Australia ...

, Batenkova was one of the Ukrainian medallists who covered their medals in protest against the

annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation In February and March 2014, Russia invaded the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, part of Ukraine, and then annexed it. This took place in the relative power vacuum immediately following the Revolution of Dignity. It marked the beginning of the Russ ...

. She said afterwards, "That is how we show our protest and disagreement that our country could be divided and part of it could be excluded from Ukraine, Crimea is my motherland, where I was born, and of course I worry about it. I want peace." She won the bronze medal in the women's 6km standing biathlon event at the 2021 World Para Snow Sports Championships held in Lillehammer, Norway.

References

External links